New
York Man Sentenced for Calling in False
Report of Gunmen at Turnpike Rest Stop

TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow, Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor and Colonel
Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New
Jersey State Police, announced that a New
York man was sentenced today for making
a false 911 call last year in which he reported
that three gunmen exited a van at a rest
stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. The call
caused the State Police to stop the van,
which was transporting students from Queens,
N.Y.

According
to Director Taylor, Rodney A. Tanzymore,
20, of St. Albans (Queens), N.Y., was sentenced
to 90 days in jail and a three-year term
of probation by Superior Court Judge Robert
Billmeier in Mercer County. He has already
served the jail term because of the time
he spent in jail after his arrest in February.
The judge also ordered that Tanzymore continue
to receive mental health counseling. He
pleaded guilty on July 16 to causing a false
public alarm. Because he had no prior felony
convictions, there was a presumption against
him facing prison on that third-degree charge.

Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades, Chief
of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau, prosecuted
the case and represented the state at the
sentencing.

On
Nov. 21, 2009, Tanzymore was part of a group
of students who were traveling home with
their chaperones after a trip to a Washington,
D.C., university. In pleading guilty, Tanzymore
admitted that during the trip, he phoned
911 and described three members of the student
group, falsely reporting that they got out
of a van at the Woodrow Wilson service plaza
on the Turnpike with handguns. He described
the Mercedes passenger van with tinted windows
in which the group was traveling, and gave
a partial license plate for the vehicle.
Tanzymore made the call from a cell phone
while he was at the service area during
a stop for food.

The
call prompted a high-risk response by numerous
troopers who located the van and evacuated
the 15 occupants at the side of the Turnpike
in Hamilton, Mercer County. Tanzymore gave
troopers a false name and date of birth
at that time. The group was placed back
in the van when the search turned up no
weapons. When a person involved with the
group publicly questioned the credibility
of the report, the State Police released
audio of the 911 call and video from in-car
cameras to show the critical nature of the
incident and the professional response by
the troopers.

Detective
Sgt. Ray Smink and Detective Ken Hoppe were
primary investigators for the State Police.
Tanzymore was located by the New Jersey
State Police Fugitive Unit, assisted by
the U.S. Marshals Task Force. He was initially
charged on Feb. 22 and detained by the New
York Police Department.